How to Become a Notary Public in Ontario
Ontario's two notary routes: the lifetime lawyer and paralegal appointment and the 10-year non-lawyer appointment, with fees, the seal and stamp, and the limits on what you can notarize.
How to Become a Paralegal in Ontario
Ontario's LSO P1 licence path: an accredited paralegal program with field placement, the 160-question licensing exam, good character, and the scope — Small Claims, tribunals, and provincial offences.
Applies in: Ontario
The short answer
Ontario is the only province in Canada where paralegals are licensed professionals who can practise independently. Everywhere else, a paralegal works under a lawyer. In Ontario, the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) licenses paralegals under a Class P1 licence, and the path has four gates: graduate from an LSO-accredited paralegal education program (including a field placement), pass the Paralegal Licensing Examination, satisfy the good character requirement, and pay the licensing fees. Once you register with the LSO, you have a three-year licensing term in which to pass the exam — that clock, not the coursework, is the deadline most candidates underestimate.
Step 1: Complete an accredited program
The LSO accredits paralegal education programs at community colleges and private career colleges across Ontario. Programs result in a diploma, certificate, graduate certificate, or bachelor's degree, and most run 1–2 years. Every accredited program must meet prescribed requirements for curriculum, instruction, assessment, faculty qualifications, and candidate field placements — the field placement is not optional, and it is the part of the program that turns classroom procedure into real files, real deadlines, and real clients.
Two checks before you enrol:
- Confirm the program is currently LSO-accredited. Only graduates of accredited programs can enter the licensing process. A general legal-studies or law-clerk program that is not accredited does not qualify you, no matter how similar the course list looks.
- Ask where the field placement happens. Placements in a law firm, a paralegal firm, a courthouse, or a government office are where most candidates discover which area of practice they actually want — Small Claims, landlord-tenant, traffic and provincial offences, or tribunal work — and where early job offers come from.
No university degree is required to enter. Candidates with a prior degree sometimes take a shorter graduate-certificate route, but the licence does not depend on it.
Step 2: Register with the LSO — and start the clock
Program graduates apply to the LSO's paralegal licensing process, which consists of the licensing examination and the good character requirement. Registration starts a three-year licensing term, and you must pass the examination within that term. The LSO reports that the process itself usually takes well under the full term, but the term is a hard boundary: drifting between graduation and your first exam sitting burns the same clock as failing one.
Register promptly after graduation, while the material is fresh and before work or life fills the gap. The examination is offered in sittings during the licensing year, so a missed sitting is months, not weeks.
Step 3: Pass the Paralegal Licensing Examination
The Paralegal Licensing Examination (PAR) is developed and administered by the LSO. It is a self-study, open-book, multiple-choice examination of 160 questions, testing entry-level competence in the substantive and procedural law and the ethical and professional responsibilities that most directly affect the public and the provision of effective, ethical legal services. Graduates of every accredited program are held to the same standard.
You have up to three attempts within your licensing term to pass, or up to four where there are extraordinary circumstances. The open-book format changes how you should prepare: the exam rewards knowing the structure of the rules and where to find the right one under time pressure, not memorizing statutes. Candidates who practise with the materials they will actually use on exam day — organized, tabbed, and familiar — do better than candidates who re-read notes.
Step 4: Satisfy the good character requirement
The LSO will not license someone who is not of good character, and it assesses this through a declaration and background review as part of the licensing process. The standard is about integrity, candour, and honesty in relation to the practice of law — not about having a spotless life. A past mistake does not automatically end an application, but hiding one can: misrepresentation to the regulator is itself a ground for refusal.
If anything in your history could raise a question — a criminal record, a prior professional discipline matter, a bankruptcy, an academic-integrity finding — disclose it early, with documents, and be ready to show what has changed since. In contested cases the Law Society Tribunal decides whether the applicant is of good character, and the candidate carries the burden of showing it.
Step 5: Take the oath, pay the fees, and get licensed
Once you have passed the examination and satisfied good character, you complete the remaining licensing steps: the oath and the licensing fees. LSO fees are set annually, so check the current fee schedule before you budget rather than relying on a figure from an older guide. On receiving your licence you become a Class P1 paralegal — licensed to provide legal services independently within the permitted scope.
Licensed life has running obligations the LSO states plainly: complete continuing professional development programming annually, carry professional liability insurance, submit to occasional practice audits, pay annual fees, and file annual reports. Paralegals must also follow the professional conduct rules, including the rules on trust accounts, and can face complaints and the LSO's disciplinary process if they do not.
What a P1 paralegal can — and cannot — do
This is the section that decides whether the licence is worth pursuing for the work you actually want. A licensed paralegal independently provides representation and advice in:
- Small Claims Court — civil disputes up to $50,000, not counting interest and costs, since the limit rose from $35,000 on October 1, 2025 under Ontario Regulation 42/25. Unpaid invoices, deposits, property damage, and contract disputes are the core files.
- Provincial Offences Court — traffic and other provincial-offence matters in the Ontario Court of Justice, including Highway Traffic Act charges.
- Certain criminal and quasi-criminal matters — summary conviction matters before the provincial court, including, since 2019, some matters carrying a penalty of up to two years less a day. The LSO maintains the permitted list; indictable offences are outside scope.
- Administrative tribunals — including the Landlord and Tenant Board, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, plus advocacy before the Immigration and Refugee Board within the scope prescribed by By-law 4.
Paralegals can also draft documents and negotiate on a party's behalf in relation to those proceedings. Licensed paralegals are automatically commissioners for taking affidavits, were designated officers of the court in 2018, and can apply to be appointed as notaries public on becoming licensed.
Outside the ordinary P1 scope, and reserved for lawyers: general family law, real estate conveyancing, wills and estates, and indictable criminal matters. One exception is growing: the Family Legal Services Provider (FLSP) authorization, approved by the LSO in December 2022, lets qualified paralegals handle a defined slice of family law — process navigation, joint and uncontested divorces, and certain motions to change child support — after completing the specified FLSP training and examination. The FLSP is an add-on to the P1 licence, not a separate licence, and it is the route to watch if family work is your interest.
What it costs, honestly
There is no single published all-in price, and any guide that gives one is guessing. Tuition depends on the college and the credential, and LSO licensing fees are reset annually. Budget in three layers: college tuition and books; LSO application and examination fees at the current schedule; and the running costs of licensed practice — annual fees, professional liability insurance, and continuing professional development. The expensive mistake is not the tuition; it is starting the licensing term and then letting it run while unprepared for the exam.
Where the work is
Newly licensed paralegals typically land in one of four places: an established paralegal firm (Small Claims and landlord-tenant volume work), a law firm working under lawyer supervision on files inside the paralegal scope, a government office or tribunal-adjacent role, or independent practice. Independent practice is real — the P1 licence exists precisely to allow it — but it is a business, not just a licence: client intake, trust accounting, insurance, and marketing are yours from day one, and the first year of solo practice is usually leaner than a salaried chair in someone else's firm. Candidates who do their field placement in the area they want to practise in, and who keep the relationships from it, start further ahead than candidates who treat placement as a checkbox.
Related: how to become a real estate broker in Ontario (another Ontario regulated licence with a staged education path), how to become a mortgage agent in Ontario (the financing-side Ontario licence), and small claims and contractor dispute process in Canada (the Small Claims forum a P1 paralegal works in every day).
The path to a P1 licence
- Complete an accredited programLSO-accredited college program, including the field placement, typically 1–2 years
- Register with the LSORegistration starts your three-year licensing term — the clock runs from here
- Pass the licensing examinationSelf-study, open-book, 160 multiple-choice questions; up to three attempts in the term
- Satisfy good characterDeclaration and background review; disclose anything that could raise a question
- Take the oath and pay the feesLicensing fees are set annually by the LSO — confirm the current schedule
- Practise as a Class P1 paralegalSmall Claims, tribunals, provincial offences — plus annual fees, insurance, and CPD
Questions people ask
How long does it take to become a licensed paralegal in Ontario?
Most candidates take 1–2 years for the accredited college program, then the licensing process on top: once you register with the Law Society of Ontario, you have a three-year licensing term in which to pass the licensing examination. A realistic total from first class to licence is roughly 2–3 years, faster if you pass the exam on your first sitting.
What is the P1 licence?
Class P1 is the Law Society of Ontario licence that lets a paralegal practise independently in Ontario. It is the licence you receive when you complete an accredited program, pass the Paralegal Licensing Examination, and satisfy the good character requirement. Ontario is the only province that licenses paralegals this way; elsewhere in Canada, paralegals work under a lawyer's supervision.
What can a licensed paralegal actually do?
A P1 paralegal can independently represent clients in Small Claims Court (claims up to $50,000 since October 1, 2025), in Provincial Offences Court, in certain summary conviction matters, and before administrative tribunals such as the Landlord and Tenant Board, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Family law, real estate conveyancing, wills and estates, and indictable offences are outside the ordinary P1 scope and stay with lawyers.
How hard is the licensing exam?
The Paralegal Licensing Examination is a self-study, open-book, multiple-choice exam of 160 questions that tests entry-level competence in substantive and procedural law and professional responsibility. You get up to three attempts within your three-year licensing term, or a fourth where there are extraordinary circumstances. The open-book format rewards knowing where to find the rule, not memorizing it.
Do I need a university degree first?
No. The entry requirement is graduation from a Law Society of Ontario accredited paralegal education program, offered by community colleges and private career colleges as a diploma, certificate, graduate certificate, or bachelor's degree. A prior degree is not required, and many candidates enter straight from a college diploma program.
What does it cost?
Tuition varies by college and program length, so budget from the college you choose rather than from a single published figure. On top of tuition, the Law Society charges licensing fees that it sets annually — check the current fee schedule before you budget — and once licensed you pay annual fees, carry professional liability insurance, and complete continuing professional development every year.
Sources
- Law Society of Ontario, Paralegal licensing examination results — the licensing process: accredited program, the 160-question open-book examination, up to three attempts within a three-year licensing term, and the good character requirement.
- Law Society of Ontario, About Paralegals — the forums a P1 paralegal works in: Small Claims Court, traffic court, some criminal matters, and tribunals. Note: this page still shows the pre-October-2025 Small Claims figure of $35,000; the current $50,000 limit is in O. Reg. 42/25 below.
- Ontario Regulation 42/25, Small Claims Court Jurisdiction and Appeal Limit — the Small Claims Court limit rose from $35,000 to $50,000, in force October 1, 2025.
- Law360 Canada, LSO approves Family Legal Services Provider licence allowing paralegals 'limited scope' in family law — the FLSP licence approved December 1, 2022, covering process navigation, joint and uncontested divorces, and motions to change child support.